1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a kitchenware item, specifically to countertop cutting-chopping boards used for supporting food while the food is being cut, chopped or malleted.
2. Prior Art
Oftentimes, cooking starts with cutting, chopping or malleting food. Typically, a type of cutting-chopping board is used to support the food during the cutting, chopping or malleting process.
Originally, boards were designed based on the following three factors: minimum damage to the knife or cleaver blade edge; ease of cleaning board surface; and for commercially used “boards”, ability to hold heavy slabs of meat.
For plastic boards, damage to the knife or cleaver blade edge was minimized by using relatively soft plastics such as polyethylene or polypropylene.
For wood boards, damage to the knife or cleaver blade was minimized by using relatively soft woods, cut and glued lengthwise or sidewise. Boards made from the harder woods such as maple, were end grain constructed, which reduced damage to the blade edges because the action of the knife blade or the impact of the cleaver spread the wood fibers instead of cutting across the fibers as was the case, on the boards, constructed with lengthwise or sidewise cut wood.
Ease of cleaning a countertop board surface was achieved by the light weight of the plastic and most of the wooden boards, making them portable and therefore easy to rinse, after use, in the kitchen sink. Recently, thick, very dense and therefore very heavy rubber pads, ideal for extending the lives of frequently used cutting and chopping tools have surfaced in restaurant kitchens and are sometimes placed and used on the traditional, commercial, four legged heavy maple butcher blocks. This eliminates the need to constantly shave the end grain surface of the butcher block because of scouring and for cleaning.
Also recently, some of the countertop plastic boards have silicone dipped corners or thin lines of rubber on the underside, of the board, to reduce slipping, during use.
However, what has always been a problem when chopping on a plastic or wooden (or rubber) board on a countertop with a cleaver or a meat softening mallet, is the significant amount of vibrations (and consequent noise) transmitted from the impact of the chopping cleaver or meat mallet on the cutting-chopping board, to the countertop and to items located on the countertop, near the board, Even the expensive 2-3 inch wooden boards, when hit with a chopping or pounding tool shake-up the countertop and are very noisy.
A common practice is to try different spots on the countertop and use the board at the least noisiest spot. I've found that placing the board on one of the front corners of the kitchen sink when chopping to be the least noisy. However, positioning the board and stability while chopping, can be challenging.